Self Isolation and claiming holiday cancellation from travel insurance

longleggings

Hi
I am an independent traveller and have booked a few days break in Spain over Easter. I have travel insurance.
My question is, if i am told by my employer or government to self isolate in the Uk for 2 weeks and it coincides with the holiday.
Can I claim cancellation insurance on these grounds ?
Any views gratefully received as always
Thanks
L

cajef

Depends upon what the terms of the insurance you have are, read the contract to see what is covered.

lisyloo

You would usually be covered if you are “unfair to travel”.
as always it depends on your insurer

LABMAN

lisyloo said:

You would usually be covered if you are “unfair to travel”.
as always it depends on your insurer

Whit!!

lisyloo

Sorry I meant unfit to travel (predictive text is changing my words).
your Gp can declare whether you are fit/unfit to travel.
the reason I said this depends is that you could be quite well so it really depends on how your insurer decides to interpret things.

longleggings

Thanks for the replies
My main point was even though i might feel Ok or have a small sniffle then its possible that I will be advised to self isolate and presumably not to travel. In this case, how would i evidence this to my travel insurance. A GP or 111 phone call would not necessarily generate evidence.
I will phone my insurance company but am not expecting a clear answer.

GibbsRule_No3.

longleggings said:

Thanks for the replies
My main point was even though i might feel Ok or have a small sniffle then its possible that I will be advised to self isolate and presumably not to travel. In this case, how would i evidence this to my travel insurance. A GP or 111 phone call would not necessarily generate evidence.
I will phone my insurance company but am not expecting a clear answer.

I’d like to know as well. My works were deep cleaned because a guest worker is self-isolating while waiting for the test result. An event I was travelling to was “postponed” so I cancelled flights and hotel for two reasons a)event not taking place b)I might have been infected and did not want symptoms to show while abroad. Flight has a credit note and hotel were very good and refunded. The problem is the ticket agency they will not refund as they say the event is “postponed” not “cancelled” but they have no idea when the event will happen. Not sure they are allowed to not refund but if so I wondered if the insurance would pay out.

Treeman3

My insurance says, "You must not travel against medical advice". So from that I would assunme I would be covered in your situation. 

Clive1954

I also cant see how this would be evidenced to the satisfaction of the insurers. 
If I get a cough latest advice is 7day isolation. Don't ring 111 ect. How would insurers know it was a legitimate claim what evidence would they want. A video of you coughing perhaps!

Sea_Shell

Me and DH had this exact conversation this morning, as friends are due to go to USA at Easter.

In normal times, if you had a cough, you'd go on holiday as normal. 

Everything is different now, so how do you evidence a cough to your insurers if you can't be seen by your GP and you're due to go on holiday during the 7 day period.

This is wide open to abuse by people who are just "disinclined" to travel who don't actually have symptoms.

longleggings

There doesn't appear to be an obvious solution to this. The typical 'you must not travel against medical advice' clause may be the best option. The advice coming from the government seems to be (though they are really not making this clear or easy)
seems to be to self isolate with a cough and don't contact GP or ring 111. I would argue that in the absence of clear evidence that any worthwhile, ethical insurer should pay up as a goodwill gesture given the current circumstances.
It is precisely because of these kind of issues that the government should lead and clarify and put people first, not the insurers.